Herculez bags first Puebla goal

It's been a busy day for me, so I just now got to checking in on last night's Mexican league action. And what did I see? Puebla forward Herculez Gomez crash home a restart header to open his club account. It would have been a road winner, too, were it not for a last minute equalizer from hosts Atlante.





- Greg Seltzer

More Jozy (updated)

Not only does the account opening goalscorer speak to BBC post-game, but good ol' Matty has hooked up a full match presentation for those who may have missed it.

UPDATE: Why not add the Match of the Day recap reel?




- Greg Seltzer

Polish sausages

WARSAW -Greetings from snowy Poland (though probably not as white as the East Coast of the US right now).

I'm sitting in the grandest press room I've ever seen, high up within the chandeliered Palace of Culture & Science, as Stalinist an edifice as you could imagine, but with a hint of the grand old skyscrapers of New York or Chicago. It dominates the skyline of the Polish capital and still has vestiges of the Communist past - I saw worker statues and the names of Lenin, Marx and Engels on my way in.

Assembled hacks like myself have just heard UEFA President Michel Platini welcome us to the Euro 2012 qualifying draw, which takes place here tomorrow. Depressingly, four separate English reporters saw fit to quiz him on John Terry, which ended up with Platini spouting 'Je m'en fous!' (I don't care!) at them.

What was being alluded to was the fact a French player in their 1982 World Cup squad, Jean-Francois Larios, was dropped from the roster because he was having an affair with the wife of his club teammate, a certain....Michel Platini. I felt sorry for Platini just now - English hacks are a dumb bunch in general.

Euro 2012 has been a bit of a millstone around Platini's neck since Italy defaulted on its status as hosting favourites following the Calciopoli scandal and some ugly hooliganism incidents in 2006. Poland & Ukraine pipped them to the hosting but it soon became clear they were not up to the job. The infrastructure remains well behind Western European standards, particularly in Ukraine, and after several deadlines, the pair were only confirmed as hosts late last year, though doubts remain.

What is interesting about this tournament is how politics on the continent's fringes have encroached on sporting territory. Old enemies Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be drawn against each other tomorrow, and neither can Georgia and Russia following their military spat in 2008 - France and the Republic of Ireland can however!

Russia lurks in the background to Euro 2012, with Ukraine's strategic position between the European Union and the great power to the East the main reason it was not stripped of its hosting. Russia supplies much of Europe's gas through the country and has been turning it off when it wants to force a political point on its former possession. Sunday is also Presidential election day in Ukraine, which could see pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich swept to power.

The coaches of UEFA's 53 member nations will be here tomorrow, with the exception of Italy's Marcello Lippi, who has put Serie A before the draw.

Andriy Shevchenko and Oleg Blokhin (who was the USSR's star man for years and won the European Footballer of the Year in 1975) are on hand for Ukraine, along with Polish Juve legend Zbigniew Boniek and Andrzej Szarmach, who bagged five goals for the Poles at the '74 World Cup.

I'm going to make a beeline for Fabio Capello tomorrow, and make sure at least one hack is asking him about soccer.

- Sean O'Conor, Warsaw

Jozy breaks Prem duck

Hull forward Jozy Altidore has fired home a Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink knockdown from just above the area to open his English account and put the hosts up 1-0 on Man City close to the half hour.




- Greg Seltzer

Top 5 2010 Freebies (updated)

You'll remember this post from last year, but I changed things up a bit this time. If you can't expect refinement over 12 months, then I'm just whack.

First, I nudged this baby past the transfer deadline to spare myself the indignity of guys listed being re-signed (e.g. Daniel van Buyten and Louis Saha this week) or shipped away the window before their contracts expire. It's just more pure at this time, is what it is.

Secondly, I chose to expand the realm past summer to include those that won't run free until December, which allowed me to include players from places like Norway and Russia.

I did not, however, include MLS players that will run out of contract this calendar year. Without the ability to identify each and every impending free agent (SEATEC ASTRONOMY), it stands to reason some good picks would be left out. I'm such a rationale stickler, eh? I can somehow list them at a later date, anyway.

Best get comfy for our usual also-rans list.

Honorable mentions: Almen Abdi (Le Mans), Johan Absalonsen (Odense BK), Adriano (Flamengo), Juan Ángel Albín (Getafe), Hanno Balitsch (Hannover 96), Sebastián Battaglia (Boca Juniors), Jermaine Beckford (Leeds United), Aleksey Berezutski (CSKA Moscow), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moscow), Kris Boyd (Rangers), Jimmy Briand (Rennes), Gonzalo Castro (Mallorca), Francois Clerc, (Lyon), Florin Costea (Universitatea Craiova), Mouhamadou Dabo (Saint-Étienne), Jonathan De Guzman (F-word), Martin Demichelis Bayern Munich), Ashkan Dejagah (Wolfsburg), Eyong Enoh (Ajax), Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Christian Gentner (Wolfsburg), Diego Godin (Villarreal), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Paolo Guerrero (Hamburg), Timo Hildebrand (Hoffenheim), Erik Huseklepp (Brann), Atiba Hutchinson (FC Copenhagen), Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen), Jadson (Shakhtar Donetsk), Jonas (Grêmio), Nenad Kovacevic (Lens), Kim Källström (Lyon), Yssouf Koné (Cluj), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke), Jerko Leko (Monaco), Andriy Nesmachny (Dinamo Kyiv), Ruben Okotie (Austria Vienna), Gabriel Paletta (Boca Juniors), Emiliano Papa (Vélez Sársfield), Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn), Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough), Liam Ridgewell (Birmnigham), Gergely Rudolf (Debrecen), Fábio Simplício (Palermo), Dwight Tiendalli (FC Twente), Martin Zeman (Sparta Prague)

--

Whew! Would you believe I actually cut 10-12 names from that list and it's still that long?

UPDATE: I've added my best possible landing spot to each guy.

Finally, on with the countdown...

#5 - Joe Cole (Chelsea)

It says here that Joe could regain his full cool if made a spotlight attack role somewhere else. I would assume there will be several sides in the Prem (and even a few from outside it) willing to give him a bigger role. It may seem like he's been around forever, but Cole is still just 28. Heck, Paul Scholes was just hitting his prime then.

Where to, then? - The guy clearly loves London, so most people would probably guess Tottenham. However, they don't really need him and I'd like to see him catch on with a team trying to reach new heights anyway. Specifically, I'm thinking Fulham. Wouldn't that be tasty on many levels?

#4 - Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liège)

Get your very own Serbian Totti at a bargain asking price: zero down, zero interest, zero closing costs! With terrific tires, this baby controls like a dream and knows its way around Europe. In the last two campaigns, Jovanovic has scored against non-league foes Arsenal, Everton, Olympiakos and Sampdoria - and he will score for you! Act fast, limited time offer!

Where to, then? - See, again, most people would probably tip him for Liverpool, with Everton as the second choice. And again... is that really the need of those clubs? Besides, I think his style and skills would better translate to, say, Barcelona, Inter or Lyon. I don't think he's best suited for the most harried-pace league. That's not to say he'd fail, just that his best would probably lie elsewhere.

#3 - Jonny Evans (Manchester United)

He's a Man United-trained prodigy capable of playing anywhere at the back for the next decade or more. Despite being just 22, Evans has experience involving 40+ Prem matches, Champions League toppers and 19 Northern Ireland caps. Of course... one still has to lure him away from Old Trafford.

Where to, then? - I can't imagine he'll leave ManU with Sir Alex still in charge. Why would he? One starting center back is a hot transfer topic and the other is showing signs of slippage, while the right back graduated a year before Yoda.

#2 - Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux)

Why Arsenal didn't plunk down the cash to grab him this winter is beyond me. Chamakh would be a perfect fit not just there, but with any quick-passing side that needs a mobile target guy. There aren't too many true #9 strikers capable of breaking defenders down with speed, and that's why it's easy to forgive his occasional finishing slump. That can probably be straightened out anyway (see Manu Adebayor at Arsenal) and he doesn't need to score to make an impact. Chamakh has improved every year. At 26, he should be the summer free agent tussle.

Where to, then? - I think I've made my position clear enough.



#1 - Sergio Canales (Racing Santander)

Pick a glamour side, any glamour side, and they are sure to be on this trail soon if not already. Canales is a slick teen strike phenom full of eye-popping talent, but that may not be the extent of it. The kid is so cool, he bagged a brace at Sevilla in his third start and acted like he was simply doing his job. Racing coach Miguel Ángel Portugal says the 18-year old reminds him of a young Rafi van der Vaart - high praise, indeed. Real Madrid are rumoured to be in the pole position for Canales, but I know he'll be a Galactico wherever he goes.

Where to, then? - It's really hard to argue with moving to Real... but I will. As much as I generally hate making such comparisons, I do think he'd be Fernando Torres Jr. in the Prem. Of the toppers, I'd say Chelsea is easily his best fit.


- Greg Seltzer

Terry - Armband = So what?

Well, Sky Sports says England manager Fabio Capello is removing John Terry as skipper.

Big. Fat. Pfft.

Now, all of Three Lions-dom can go congratulate themselves for "doing the right thing" - as if this was it.

At this disgusting point, I'd rather they just leave him captain and not act like they did something noble, damn the World Cup results. I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again: if the story of an affair with England teammate Wayne Bridge's lady is true, and it sure seems to be, Terry should be instantly kicked out of the side.

Hell, what am I saying? If it's true, he should have been booted long before this all came to light.

Instead? He stays in, the FA actually thinks they've done something about this inexcusable team squad breach, a really shabby precedent is set for this type of thing, Bridge is systematically humiliated as unimportant, clubhouse camps will form and England will muck it all up this summer anyway.

Man, I hate this story. I really do. June 12th, June 12th, June 12th...


- Greg Seltzer

A few things...

So much going on and I take a little holiday. Sheesh, the nerve of this guy...

#1 - Guess what? More USMNT-section World Cup tickets will be available.

#2 - I'm really not sure how anyone can fault Daily Soccer Fix ace Steve Davis for not outing the real reason John Harkes was booted from the '98 World Cup team - but he explains it well enough anyway.

For me, who obviously knows many things that are never shared, I would feel pretty low for going to post on it if put in that particular position. It's just not the story I'd want to break.

I'd also like to honor former U.S. coach Steve Sampson as a stand-up guy for making the tough decision and taking all the heat for this episode on his back all these years. Gotta give it up for that prolonged show of integrity.

#3 - Speaking such things, one of my Random Thoughts from yesterday's S365 column was to rip the England bubble for acting as if questioning John Terry's captaincy somehow made it so that they were taking the bond of a squad and a sense of decency seriously.

Pffft. If they wanted to be real, he'd be kicked off the team. We all know that won't happen. So then let's not all pretend anyone really cares that he might of slept with a teammate's partner. It's quite unseemly after the fact (if the story is true, that is).

Oh, and while we're on this sad subject; a recent survey shows that approximately 59% of female England fans are wildly full of sh** (and/or are currently in affairs with Terry).

Ladies... if you'd vote to take his armband for cheating on you, then you have to vote to take it for cheating on his wife. C'mon now, fair is fair. Sisterhood, and like... traveling pants and stuff.

#4 - Another day, another injured 'Nat. This time it was Señor Torres in the Pachuca with a hammy strain.

#5 - While quiet here the last couple of days, I did have a good word with Orebro attacker Alejandro Bedoya and a quick one with Aves loan item Kamani Hill.

As promised, I will have a fresh Top 5 List up here later today. Also... urgh... with several people bugging me to Twitter-ize somehow, I've decided to start dropping little nuggets at the S365 page. Obviously, this will come most in handy during a transfer window, but I did drop one about Danny Szetela's knee surgery early yesterday and now we've had the full story come out today.

So go follow that one, that's as close to joining Twitter as I get (until they pay me for it, of course). Yays all around, indeed.

#6 - Stuart Holden has had a couple of chats with The Bolton News, one about joining the team and one about Davide Beccemano's impact on MLS.

By the way, you'll see in those Random Thoughts, I guessed Holden would debut at Blackburn on the 22nd. From the sound of Owen Coyle's talk, I may have been too conservative. We shall see, but I'm told he is doubtful to dress this weekend against Fulham.

#7 - Since the last Waiting for Gaetjens podcast on young American players in Mexico had some sound troubles, Adam Spangler took the time to type up the two interviews from that bit over at This Is American Soccer.

#8 - Italian reports claim AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini could come out of retirement to play a season for the New York Red Bulls. Interesting.

#9 - Togo is not taking this ridiculous African Nations Cup ban lying down. Good on them.


- Greg Seltzer

Step One

Okay, if I'm gonna set up the best stuff for everybody coming to Amsterdam for the USMNT v Netherlands friendly on March 3rd, I need some info. Therefore, it would be great if everyone heading over that is interested in kickin' it with me, Sean and the other NSC regulars would shoot me a quick email at greg@noshortcorners.com this weekend.

Please put "NSC AMSTERDAM" in the subject all caps, so I can herd all these onto a mailing list. Just tell us how many people are along in your immediate group, how long before the game you're in town, where in town you'll be staying and if you will want to take part in a pick-up game.

Even if I've already talked to you, do me a solid and shoot me one of these. With these few tidbits, I can set things up right. I can pick the most convenient meeting spots, arrange a game, etc etc.

Bedankt.


- Greg Seltzer

Wynalda weighs in on the Captain for Wife

It had to happen sooner or later - the US World Cup '98 fall-out is dredged up again because Terrygate refuses to die in the English press, with five Chelsea players now named as having dallied with the French waitress.

US skipper John Harkes had been caught practising his keepie-uppies with Eric Wynalda's wife in the run-up to World Cup 1998, which prompted Steve '3-6-1' Sampson to show the man he had called his Captain for Life(the title of Harkes' autobiography) the door. Wynalda raised the issue again on Monday night discussing Terry.

The former Nats hitman told his side of the story to BBC Sport today. Sampson & Wynalda both claim the affair broke the morale of the US team in France, but Wynalda claims he tried to change Sampson's mind when his coach told him he was leaving Harkes at the airport. I heard these rumours in France but whatever, those of us who were cheering the US, especially against Iran in Lyon, will want to forget that tournament ever happened.

The situation for England is a little different because Bridge is not first choice, though a probable squad member. Terry has not lost the rest of the Three Lions, and Fabio Capello will almost certainly order the pair to kiss and make up because their country needs them. He is Italian after all, where a philandering president reigns; they do things differently there and Capello has coached Antonio '600+ lovers' Cassano(va), coining the term 'Cassanata' for when a player mis-behaves and lets the team down.

Plus it's not exactly easy to pick a dignified replacement for England - Rooney (paid for sex), Beckham (cheated on wife), Gerrard (bar-room brawler), Lampard (left partner & kids, made sex tape), or Ferdinand (drink-driver, missed drugs test) anyone?

Capello is due to meet the press on Sunday at the Euro 2012 draw in Warsaw; with a bit of luck he will have spoken to Terry and can tell us it's all over one way or another.

-Sean O'Conor

Bradley calls all-MLS 23

Here is the roster to prepare for a Tampa friendly with El Salvador on the 24th.


G - Troy Perkins (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Zach Thornton (Chivas USA)

D - Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Michael Orozco (Philadelphia Union), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)

M - Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Dax McCarty (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew)

F - Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)


- Greg Seltzer

Read all about it

Greg's taking a little breather in Mokum and letting his phone cool down...by the way we're both in Amsterdam for the Nats game in March, so hope to see you all there - jetsetters among you could combine it with Eire v Brazil the night before at Arsenal; they're flogging this all over London right now so the tix can't be selling too well yet.

I spend a lot of my time reading soccer books and I still get excited about new ones; it's hard to believe but the world's greatest sport had next to no books written about it prior to the early 1990s, and nothing like baseball or cricket for instance. Thankfully, that has all changed now.

2009 was not as fertile a year as it could have been in football lit, but there were still some good reads. I tend to ignore player autobiographies, so I might have missed a gem, but probably not.

US soccer lit saw Grant Wahl's The Beckham Experiment provide a definitive account of MLS' latest jamboree, in the best traditions of fly-on-the-wall reportage. Warren St. John's Outcasts Unitedwas a well-worn tale of soccer's knack of uniting the world, this time in the shape of refugees in Atlanta, but was engrossing and moving nonetheless.

In Britain, the paperback edition of Jonathan Wilson's superb Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics was released, the most telling and personal take yet on the history of football tactics and a must for serious fans' shelves.

Soccernomics/Why England Lose (UK) by Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski stands out as the most interesting new release of last year.

Kuper has an awesome reputation as a soccer scribe, despite only two books to his name - Soccer Against the Enemy and Ajax, the Dutch, the War. But his day job is in financial journalism, which he applies with the help of a fellow economist to produce a wholly new take on the Beautiful Game, albeit in the vein of Freakonomics and with a hint of Michael Lewis' baseball classic, Moneyball thrown in.

No other book discusses why regional cities' clubs out-perform capital cities', why MLS' single-entity fails, why a blond Brazilian player after a World Cup is the worst value for money buy and why China will be the world champions one day.
Scatter-gun, over-reliant on statistics and at times smug Soccernomics may be, but you would be hard-pressed to find a book which makes you stop and re-think your footballing prejudices more than this does.

Ed Glinert's The London Football Companion had to be 2009's most rigorously researched football book, full of extraordinary minutiae from a man with an encyclopedic knowledge of London streets and stories. Still in England, Beastly Fury by Richard Sanders provided a colourful account of soccer's creation years amidst the Victorian epoch.

Lastly with an African World Cup imminent, it's worth taking a look at Ian Hawkey's Feet of the Chameleon, a collection of in-depth pieces on the game in the 'dark continent', which we in the west still know precious little about.

-Sean O'Conor

Congratulations, it's a bouncing baby 2010 schedule.

Games are played in MLS.

The full Megillah, searchable by club.



- Greg Seltzer

Video Wednesday

I meant to do this last night, but dozed off watching TV mere moments after Hull v Chelsea ended. Try not to do the same at work as you enjoy this tube-riffic post...

Once again, back is the incredible... 2 Good 2 Bad.


2 Good 2 Bad Week 21
Hochgeladen von footballove. - Sieh mehr Sport und Extremsport Videos.


You know how I love a good individual highlight reel, and perhaps it's high time I spotlighted Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben, who has been nothing short of brilliant this season.




With England all yappy over an alleged John Terry affair with Wayne Bridge's lady a while back, why not turn to UK lunchtime show Loose Women for the debate?




The latest UEFA Magazine interview feature is with... oh, dear sweet lord... it's with John Terry.




Finally, ESPN Deportes offers up their Not Top 10 featuring all sorts of embarrassing blunders - and even an appearance from crazy former Colombia keeper Rene Higuita.




- Greg Seltzer

The fat lady was marvelous, what a voice!

Yup, Kamani Hill's loan to Deportivo das Aves was the only move for an American completed today. We didn't know it at the time, but the winter window fun ended there for us.

We had a couple of things that were quite close to happening, including a Carlos Bocanegra move that was all agreed and didn't happen because Rennes couldn't land his replacement.

Of course, we could still have a free agent or two hop over - but for now, that's it.

Sorry.






- Greg Seltzer

Who likes goals?

Before we get to regularly scheduled programming, I will mention that yours truly is probably gonna take a couple days off NSC duty later this week to spend time with The Distracter. She deserves a transfer window goodbye holiday. But fear not, I do have a few interesting interviews to come first at S365 and have started working on the first of two Euro-transfer-themed Top 5 Lists for here, as well as more Amsterdam friendly info...

Let's start with truly one of the nastiest finishes I've ever seen, no exaggeration. It was perpetrated by Cercle Brugge's Bojan Bozovic, the victim was Anderlecht and it stood up as a midweek Belgian Cup quarterfinal winner. Amazing.




Fortunately, I can get back in good Mauves graces by showing Mbark Boussoufa's Jet Li impersonation from the weekend.




Chivas Guadalajara's Javier Hernandez apparently does not stand on ceremony.




It doesn't get any Route One-r than Man City's Steven Ireland and Manu Adebayor.




Do you know why Wolfsburg Edin Džeko will soon be starring in England or Italy? Because he hardly needs any space or time to destroy a defense.




Finally, there aren't too many better volleyers than AS Roma's John Arne Riise. I call him... "Club/Foot".




- Greg Seltzer

Tick... tock... (updated)

As we head into the deadline, there should still be a few Euro-moves left for Americans. I'll keep this open all day and push Who likes goals? until the afternoon.

For those also very interested in English happenings, Sky Sports has a pretty good updating page here. Already today, the UK has seen wonderboy Victor Moses head to Wigan, Edson Braafheid loaned to Celtic and West Ham grab erstwhile Saint-Étienne forward Ilan.

So, let's join the fun...

• It appears that Guimarães right-sider Kamani Hill is being loaned to second flight Deportivo des Aves until the end of the season. I'm waiting to talk to the man himself, so check back on this.

• As I'd mentioned in a comment, expect Aston Villa defender Eric Lichaj's loan to be determined after the regular transfer window closes. In the Prem, they can still loan players down to the Championship after the deadline.

• A monster swarm of Mexican and Central American reports claims that El Salvador attacker Osael Romero is joining Chivas USA on loan. Yeah, I'm guessing this will happen.

• Contrary to weekend Romanian reports, Josh Tudela remains on trial with Steaua Bucharest. A club source told me he will play in their friendly at Hungarian side Vasas SC tonight.
  
  Meanwhile, a Monday Romanian report says that Dinamo Bucharest, Timişoara and Universitatea Craiova have apparently been alerted by Tudela's showing in Steaua training so far. He is a free agent and would have no problem registering for play should he sign after tomorrow's transfer deadline. It now seems to me, he will sign in Romania, one way or another.
  

• From the "Oh, by the way... " file: Plymouth finally confirmed what you all knew the other day, and Kenny Cooper looks happy to be there next to a familiar MLS face.

• This may be ridiculous to mention, but we know how these things get around. A BBC reader has texted in that he saw someone identified to him as Jonathan Bornstein getting out of a cab at Nottingham Forest. I normally wouldn't even think twice about such "reports", but... that is rather random, isn't it? So I called the club, who told me they have no dealings of any kind going on today.
  

• A bit of non-transfer news so I don't pull this post from the top: Steve Cherundolo is out 4-6 weeks with a shoulder ouch and DaMarcus Beasley will remain on the mend for another 10 days.
  
  Meanwhile, in unrelated news, many USMNT fans are being admitted with ulcer symptoms.
  

• Former Revs ace Steve Ralston has signed with AC St. Louis as a player/assistant coach.

FINAL UPDATE: Well... nothing else has popped, but I have a few things to keep an eye on before tomorrow's deadline. We may have a few moves, we may have next to nothing. Portuguese daily Record is now reporting the Hill loan to Deportivo des Aves, so that is probably a done deal, but I'm still gonna talk to the player before I file a report.


- Greg Seltzer

And still, heavyweight champeens...

Finally, a proper highlight reel from Egypt's African Nations Cup title retention!

Ghana v Egypt
von liverdeliverz

- Greg Seltzer